Naruto: ROOTS Of Legends
by Egghead
Summary: What would happen if Naruto was raised by Danzou? My take on a ROOTS-raised Naruto. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters though I kinda' wish I did


**Naruto: ROOTS Of Legends**

**(What would happen if Naruto was raised by Danzou? My take on a ROOTS-raised Naruto. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters though I kinda' wish I did)**

**Chapter 1: Fox**

From his vantage point on the balcony of the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but cringe at a sight which he had hoped he'd never see again in his life.

His home village in flames.

The last time he saw a view like this was during the last Great Shinobi Wars during his genin days under the tutelage of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage when Kumo attacked their village.

But even THAT didn't look half as bad as this.

The reason is because the invader this time was neither an army nor a whole country. It was a force of nature.

A force of nature called Kyuubi No Kitsune.

Nobody knew the exact reason why Kyuubi, who had long been considered as the Fire Country's guardian spirit, had gone on a rampage in Konoha. What was certain was if it was not stopped, then their home would be wiped out.

Seeing as it was impossible to actually kill the strongest of the legendary Bijuu, the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato decided to use a forbidden jutsu to seal away the immortal Kyuubi into a normal human infant in exchange of his life. But of course, he couldn't ask anyone else to condemn their own child to a possible life of persecution for something they had absolutely no control over.

So he decides to seal Kyuubi into his own newborn son, Naruto whom his wife Kushina gave birth to shortly before dying due to complications.

At first, Sarutobi pleaded with the Yondaime to reconsider his plans and look for alternative means. But Minato had wisely pointed out that they had no time left. He also rejected Sarutobi's offer that he'd be the one who will perform the sealing jutsu and sacrifice his life instead, saying that he as Naruto's father, should be the one who'll do the deed and nobody else.

And this is where find Sarutobi who carried the infant Naruto in his arms and had once again taken up the mantle of Hokage as he looks over his wrecked village.

A sudden presence behind him makes the old Kage smile.

"Danzou my old friend. I'm glad you could come." Sarutobi said as he turns around, watching a bandaged old man with a cane shuffle into view.

Danzou was one of the Sandaime's oldest and closest friend/rival ever since their days as mere genins. And even though their paths in life had somewhat deviated in their later years which at times put them at odds due to their differing political stances (Sarutobi being the more democratic while Danzou's was more hardline and militaristic), they still maintained their friendship as well as a mutual respect for one another.

"I came as soon as I heard about what happened to the Yondaime. So I guess that means they pulled you out of retirement to become Hokage again?" Danzou gruffed before looking pointedly at the child his friend was carrying. "Isn't that....?"

"Yes. It is. It's Minato's firstborn son Naruto." Sarutobi said before adding reluctantly. "....And the human vessel of Kyuubi No Kitsune."

There was silence as Danzou gives Naruto an unreadable look before turning to the Sandaime. "Minato actually turned his own son into a Jinchuuriki?!?" Danzou asks in disbelief. Personally, he thought that the Yondaime was also a little soft like Sarutobi. But hearing how he had sacrificed his own child for the safety of Konoha made Danzou see the Yondaime in a whole different light.

"Yes he did." Sarutobi answered. "As much as it pained him, he knew it was the only alternative if Konoha was to survive."

"A leader who puts his village's welfare above everything else till the very end. He truly is worthy of the title Hokage." Danzou said in admiration before looking at the baby. "So what do we do with Minato's child?"

"Minato wanted it to be known that his son holds Kyuubi and should therefore be treated as a hero, but...." Sarutobi stated.

"Hmmm.... I see your dilemma." Danzou said thoughtfully. "You're afraid that if you announce to the village that Kyuubi's not actually dead and is simply sealed inside Naruto, they might try and take out their anger on him. Is that it?"

"Yes. I fear that many in the village are not as open-minded as Minato may think." Sarutobi said with a sigh.

"People tend to fear what they do not understand." Danzou stated sagely. "Those civilian fools in the council are no different. You will probably be signing the boy's death warrant if you were to announce his.... Condition to the whole village. So I take it that whatever it is you have planned for Naruto involves me somehow?"

Sarutobi chuckles at this. "Still as sharp as ever. Eh, Touken No Danzou?" The Sandaime said, calling his old friend by his infamous ANBU nickname of Danzou Of The Cold Steel which was given to him due to his swordsmanship skills and cool efficiency.

"I may be a cripple but I'm nobody's fool." Danzou grumbles. "We've known each other for most of our lives Sarutobi and it doesn't take a genius to see that you don't intend to reveal Kyuubi's fate or Naruto's lineage to anybody just yet."

"Not for a long time, no." Sarutobi confirms with a nod. "And neither do I want to tell till he comes of age. Till then, I need someone I can trust to properly raise him. It will seem suspicious if I adopt him myself so I need you and your.... Organization to care for him and train him in the ways of a shinobi till he comes of age." He said, mentioning the old shinobi's own ANBU troops which mostly consisted of war orphans he had adopted and raised.

"Why me and my ROOTS Sarutobi? You DO know how we operate don't you?" Danzou asks. "Wouldn't it be better if a normal civilian or shinobi family were to adopt and raise him?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "Don't be absurd Danzou. You know his situation and lineage makes it impossible for me to entrust him to anyone else. Besides, I know that you have someone uniquely suited to deal with Naruto's.... Gift in case it gets problematic, do you not?"

"Tenzou." Danzou confirmed, referring to one of his young captains. He found Tenzou in one of Orochimaru's secret laboratories when he led the investigation of his illegal activities after the traitorous Sanin had fled Konoha. Apparently, Tenzou was infused with the DNA of the Shodaime Hokage, giving him the Mokuton Kekkai Genkai which was said to have the ability to suppress the powers of a Bijuu.

"I will agree to this so long as you agree not to interfere with my methods of raising him." Danzou said after a moment of thinking. "I know you do not agree with my policies of security but you also know that we cannot afford to appear weak to the other elemental countries. Naruto has tremendous potential and he will become a real asset to Konoha."

"So you will turn him into a weapon like what some of the other elemental countries are doing with their jinchuuriki?" Sarutobi asks flatly.

Danzou actually looked offended at the accusation by Sarutobi. "For the sake of our friendship Sarutobi, I will pretend that I did not hear that. But I'm hurt that you would think so lowly of me."

Sarutobi realizes he had crossed the line with his last statement and sighs heavily. "Forgive me old friend. The stress of the recent days are starting to get to me."

"There's nothing to forgive Sarutobi. Perhaps I should clarify what I meant." Danzou said, walking over to have a look at his village. "When the Yondaime was still alive, his name was feared and respected throughout the elemental countries. So much so that our enemies would think and rethink their plans to invade and destroy Konoha just because of him. What I want for Naruto is very simple. I want him to have the same reputation that the Yondaime had when the time comes. And I can't do that if I turn him into some mindless killing machine."

Danzou turns to his old friend with a serious look on his face. "I will endeavor to give Naruto as normal a childhood as possible but his training under my ROOTS will be difficult. I can promise you though that once he is fully trained, we WILL have someone we can be proud of."

Sarutobi looks at Danzou for a moment before speaking with a smile. "Fine. I trust your judgment Danzou and I will not interfere. I'll also hold you to the promise that Naruto will be someone we can be proud of when the time comes. And for the record Danzou, I never really was against your security policies per se. It's just that certain individuals in the council likes to make things difficult for me at the smallest thing and I'd rather not deal with them regarding that on a regular basis. But Kyuubi's invasion has raised a lot of questions so I think a little tightening up and a bit of house cleaning is in order."

"About damned time. They're getting just a little too bigheaded for their own good." Danzou grumbles, looking down at the infant Naruto. "So now that everything is settled, do you want me to take custody of Naruto now?"

"That would be for the best. You need to take him away before anyone else sees him." Sarutobi said. Danzou nods at this and snaps his fingers. A figure in black ANBU garb wearing a cat's mask drops down from the ceiling and retrieves the baby from Sarutobi. He then nods respectfully at Danzou before disappearing.

"If there is nothing else Sarutobi, these tired old bones need rest. I will see you in the next council meeting." Danzou said, nodding at his friend and leaves Sarutobi to his own thoughts.

Sarutobi knew he made the correct decision when he asked Danzou to adopt Naruto and protect him. His old friend might appear and act like a crotchety old bastard, but he was confident that he would care for Naruto and raise him well. He just hoped that wherever Minato was, he would forgive him for not following his last wishes for now.

(Konoha: 7 years later)

Two individuals appears via shunshin in the backyard of Konoha's shinobi academy.

The larger one was a moderately built adult male who wore the standard black ANBU garb and a mask resembling a wide-eyed cat.

The smaller one, despite being covered by a cloak and a smiling fox mask, was obviously a child.

"Alright, we're here." The cat-masked ANBU told his small companion. "Now remember what we told you, ok? Behave yourself and try NOT to draw too much attention while you're attending school."

Of course, the cat-masked ANBU knew that his reminder to his young companion was an exercise of futility since the boy becomes rather rowdy when something upsets him. It was nothing destructive, but the ANBU had first hand experience to the chaos once something triggers his young ward's mischievous tendencies.

"Don't worry Niisan. You know I won't cause any trouble for you or Jiisan." The young boy said jovially. "Besides, I'm not the one who usually starts the fight."

"That's true. But that doesn't mean you can scare them half to death either." The ANBU said dryly. "Look, just relax and enjoy yourself in school, ok? And for kami's sake, don't show off all the skills you've learned back home. The last thing we need is people butting into our business and you know how cranky your jiisan can get when people starts snooping around."

"Gotcha' Niisan." The boy said with a salute, shrugging off his cloak and mask before running off and waving goodbye. The ANBU watches as his young companion disappear into the academy and sighs.

"I sincerely hope the academy's ready for him." The ANBU mutters to himself before teleporting away via shunshin.

(Konoha Academy: Classroom)

Umino Iruka looks over his class with a little apprehension.

This was his first stint as a Chunin instructor so he was understandably nervous. But when your class also had the heirs of the seven major shinobi clans of Konoha, there is also the additional pressure of trying to excell for they were the future leaders of Konoha so failure is NOT an option.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Iruka lifts up his clipboard and starts take attendance. But moments into the roll, the classroom door opens and in runs a boy with shaggy blonde hair, blue eyes with whisker like markings on both cheeks and wore a black short-sleeved shirt with an orange spiral in the middle, a pair of khaki cargo shorts as well as the standard shinobi sandals.

"Sorry I'm late sensei." The blonde apologized, looking up at Iruka with a sheepish smile. "It's my 1st time in the academy and I got kinda' lost."

The boy looked vaguely familiar to Iruka. But he dismissed the thought immediately. "It's alright. You're just in time, actually. What's your name son?"

The boy's smile became wider as he proclaimed proudly. "I'm the future Hokage. The name's Uzumaki Naruto."

AN: Here's my answer to my challenge of a ROOT raised Naruto. Hope you guys enjoy :)


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